In the case of women the hair is generally allowed to grow long, and in this tangled, uncombed state furnishes an excellent breeding place for vermin. However, if the vermin become troublesome the hair is sometimes cut short. (See Pl. XVII.) The cutting is done with the ever-useful bolo or sharp knife and is a somewhat laborious and painful process. Sometimes the hair may be cropped behind and left long on top. This is a favorite style of wearing it among the men, and is frequently followed by the women. Attempt is seldom made to comb the hair, but frequent vermin-catching onslaughts are made, the person performing the work using a sharp piece of bamboo to separate the tangled kinks and to mash the offending parasite against the thumb nail. In Bataan the Negritos sometimes shave a circular place on the crown, but I am not informed as to the reason. The practice is not followed in Zambales. The color of the skin is a dark chocolate brown rather than black, and on unexposed portions of the body approaches a yellowish tint of the Malayan. The loathsome skin disease common in the northern region of Luzon gives it a mottled appearance. The Aeta have practically no prognathism. The hands are not large, but the feet are larger in proportion to the size of the body than those of Filipinos. The toes are spreading, and the large toe frequently extends inward so much as to attract attention, though this can not be said to be a marked characteristic of all individuals. It may be caused by a constant practice of the tree climber--that of grasping a branch between the large toes and the other toes. I have seen Negrito boys who would use their feet in this respect as well as they used their hands. Permanent Adornment The custom prevails throughout the entire Negrito territory of sharpening the teeth. Usually only the upper teeth are so treated, but numerous cases were noted where the teeth were sharpened both above and below, and still there were others where they were not sharpened at all. This sharpening is not performed at any certain age, and it is apparently not obligatory; I do not believe parents compel their children to submit to this practice. The object seems to be largely for the sake of adornment, but the Negritos say that sharpened teeth enable them to cat corn with greater ease. The sharpening is done by placing the blade of a bolo against the part of the tooth to be broken away and giving it a sharp rap with a piece of wood. The operation, called "ta-li-han," is a somewhat delicate one, requiring care to prevent breaking through into the soft part of the tooth and exposing the nerve, and is no doubt practiced by only one or two persons in a group, though this fact could not be ascertained. Notwithstanding this mutilation, the teeth seem to be remarkably healthy and well preserved except in old age.